The Sleeping Demon of Saturn: Space Patrol (August 1, 1953)

Space Patrol, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“The Sleeping Demon of Saturn” is an episode of Space Patrol, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 1, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Commander Buzz Corey and his aide Happy investigate a criminal scheme involving defective spaceships. Crooks Shrike and Gresham plan to force scientist Dr. Ramsey to predict a volcanic eruption near Kepler City on Saturn, causing panic that they can exploit to sell their faulty ships. Buzz and Happy work to track the pair, first after a crash of one of the ships and then in an attempt to stop the planned false prediction. The Space Patrol sets out to find Ramsey and expose the plot before the city is caught in a panic. The Space Patrol series, first broadcast on 1953-08-01, features the characters as heard in this episode.

Mercury City on the planet Mercury, and Kepler City on the planet Saturn, in the future

Characters: Commander Buzz Corey, Happy, Dr. Ramsey, Shrike, Gresham, Tonga

Listen for: The crooks' plan to force Dr. Ramsey to predict a volcanic eruption near Kepler City

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.